“We are in a contract year and we have to get results,” Southerland said regarding the team’s final year of the five-year deal with naming sponsor Novo Nordisk, a multinational pharmaceutical company specializing in diabetes management. “The priority is not on putting riders in the break and being in the top 10, we need visible results this year.”

Let's have a look:Stage top-10s and top-20s in various 2.HC, 2.1, and 2.2 races, best GC results 10th in Estonia, 15th in Croatia, and 29th in California. That isn't worse than previous years ... but it isn't better, either.

It's not difficult either to guess which races won't on the calendar next time round. The RCS ones and Pologne. However I checked the ToC website and they're not on the carousel of sponsors at the bottom of the page there, so no California either? If so that begs the question, why stay at PCT level?

Eighty race days for 16 riders with these new rules about team sizes doesn't add up either.

80 x (6 or 7) = 480 or 560

(480 or 560) / 16 = 30 or 35

So on average each rider for Novo Nordisk next year will only have between 30-35 race days. OK that's more than Funvic this year, but that's not saying much.

If they aren't riding California, a 10-12 man CT team with a varied 80 day calendar would make much more sense.